It was Monica’s birthday on a chilly September day. I wanted to surprise her, with an awesome gift. This was around the time I started my new school CSS. By this time, I just settled into CSS and I really enjoyed this school, despite the cold fall that whispered through the windows.
“Kayley,” Mom yelled from her room.
“Yes,” I yelled from the living room.
Then Mom slowly comes walking to the living room to find me thinking on the smooth leather couch.
“So, what should we do for Monica’s birthday?”
Mom sounds clueless and looks like she just wrestled a bear. She seemed so tired that I might have to do all the work by myself. Suddenly, I think about all the nice birthday surprises that we have done for others. Then the idea of cupcakes pops inside my head. Wait, maybe Mom could go outside to grab some cupcakes for Monica’s birthday. She might not want to get them! I have to make sure that I sound as if it’s the end of the world or try to use persuasive language so she understands what I think is the best. It may not work out. So I’ll just have to hope that she agrees with my idea.
“So… Mom can we or you, go out and get cupcakes for Monica’s birthday so we can make sure that she has the best birthday ever? On top of that by getting the cupcakes from Foodtown we are encouraging her on her birthday and… Who doesn’t like tasty cupcake?? Please, can we get cupcakes??”
“Kayley, it’s going to take a long time go downstairs to Foodtown and come back and put a candle in it,” Mom says in a “that was obvious” tone.
It was too late to suggest to make cupcakes. Right after that thought popped into my head the cookbook that Mom, Emmanuel, and I started a few months ago started screaming to be let opened. Suddenly I remembered the recipe that Emmanuel found in our magazines that we got every month. The microwaveable chocolate cake. We have tried the recipe before and it came as a delicious fluffy chocolate cake in an IKEA mug. Mom may actually like this idea.
“Mom, could we make a microwaveable cake for Monica’s birthday??”
“Sure, we have enough time and I think she would really enjoy it and be encouraged,” Mom said.
Now we had a plan and it needed to be put into action. I grabbed the flour, cocoa, and brown sugar as they smiled when they saw me. I snatched the baking soda, milk and oil as they jumped from the shelves and danced out of the kitchen. Then the vanilla extract and chocolate chips joined the party. I put all the excited ingredients in their boxes and bottles on the table. As soon as I was going to start to get an IKEA cup to put the ingredients into, my brother walked into the living room.
“Can I help? ,” Emmanuel asked as he walked towards the IKEA mug I put on the table.
He walked towards the bowl and glanced at the recipe and got something from the cupboard in the kitchen. Then I peeked into the kitchen to see what he was doing and I realized that he was getting measuring spoons, just what I needed. Without the measuring spoons, there would be no chocolate cake. They are the main characters of the tasty story.
“Sure, you can help,” I said as I doubted the idea of letting him help.
I know that sometimes he messes up recipes and the end result comes out very bad. I’m not sure if I should trust him with Monica’s cake, but I feel that this time I should trust him. Even though the cake might not be perfect, It will be made with lots of love from the whole Chery household.
“Can you measure the flour and the cocoa while I measure the sugar and baking soda?”
“Sure,” he says with a cheesy grin.
I reach towards the white shelf so I can grab the sugar container with the nice soft golden sugar. I also open the stainless steel door to grab the milky white flour from the back of the fridge.
Bam. Bam. Clink. Clink. As Emmanuel and I put the right measurements in the of the right ingredients in the white IKEA mug, the spoons hit the side of the white mug. As we add ingredients into the mug, splitting up the jobs to make sure Emmanuel had an equal amount of ingredients to measure. With 2 people and 8 ingredients, splitting up the jobs were easy.
After all the ingredients were in, we stirred the mixture thoroughly so every ingredient could be perfectly saturated in the cup. I put the cup with the mixture in the microwave and set the microwave for 1 minute. Then we waited for the microwave to beep. I ran to my mom’s room so I could tell her to start getting the candles to top the ultimate birthday cake for Monica.
“Mom, can you start getting the candles ready for the cake?”
“Sure, I’ll be out there in a second,” she said.
The microwave starts to make a noise so I rush to the living room so I can take the cake out of the microwave without any problems. Taking things out of the microwave isn’t one of my brother’s strengths. To avoid any problems I just take it out myself. As I take the IKEA mug out of the microwave, the microwave door makes a sound. Crack, crack. Mom runs into the microwave and puts the candles on and we walk out the door. We all walk down the stairs in the staircase right next to my house and we go to Kyrie’s house.
I have known Kyrie and her mom Monica since I was a 1-year-old. They have always done nice neighborly things for us and by giving the cake to Monica for her birthday, I feel we are doing something small to repay the favor. My mom and my brother may not understand the importance of the cake, but I do.
Ding, dong. Kyrie enters the door with a big grin. While Kyrie, Emmanuel and I are distracting Monica in Kyrie’s room, my mom lights the candles. Mom gives us the cue and the singing starts.
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Monica. Happy Birthday to you,” we all sang at the top of our lungs.
Kyrie starts to sing the part in the birthday song where you have to say how old you are. Since adults don’t like to reveal their age, I always stop singing before that part in the song. Monica had a very surprised look on her face. Since Monica is an awesome adult, she revealed her age, which she said is 20. We all know it isn’t true, but we are so engaged in the birthday spirit that we don’t really care. We all eat the warm chocolate cake realizing that we forgot the vanilla ice cream.
“Thanks for the wonderful birthday surprise,” she said.
“Your welcome,” Emmanuel, Mom, and I said in unison
Mom’s eyes were gleaming with happiness and so did Monica’s. We walked upstairs to the
4th floor and cleaned up our mess, and we hoped this recipe sparks another lovely birthday.
Recipe
Microwavable Chocolate Cake
4 Tablespoons Flour
2 Tablespoons Cocoa
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1/2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
Some chocolate chips
3 Tablespoons Milk
3 Tablespoons Oil
1/4 Tablespoons Vanilla
~1. Mix everything together in a microwave safe cup
~2. Make sure the mixture is saturated
~3. Microwavable batter for 1 minute
~4. ( optional ) Sprinkle powdered sugar on it
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